Many electronic devices including mobile devices have at least one challenge based locking mechanism for improving the security of the device and any data stored on the device. A challenge, such as a password prompt, can be used to authenticate a user who is attempting to access or use a device or system. One challenge based locking mechanism is the locking feature on a mobile device. A challenge based locking mechanism can allow a device to be put into a locked state, in which user access to some or all of the functionality of the device is temporarily disabled. The device may be switched into an unlocked state upon the successful completion of a challenge, meaning that user access to some or all of the functionality of the device is enabled.
A locking mechanism in a device can allow for the manual locking of the device. In addition, many devices have a locking mechanism that automatically engages when the device has been idle for a particular amount of time. A device is generally considered to be idle if there is no input being provided to the device by a user. Such automatic locking mechanisms serve as a safeguard in the event that the last user of the device forgets or otherwise does not lock the device when the user is no longer using the device to ensure the device is secure if it is lost or stolen.